LUNETTES KOLLEKTION

Words and photos by Pete Anderson

My game plan for (capsule) was to walk the floors, mentally note what looked interesting, narrow the giant field of clothing and accessories lines down, and return on a second pass to cover the ones that stood out. I made a note to talk to the rep for a German eyewear company, Lunettes Kollektion, and went back once, twice, three times--every time there was a small crowd also waiting to talk with him.

For good reason. The eyeglasses at the Lunettes booth were beautiful. Lunettes shops in Berlin have been selling deadstock and vintage frames for a few years, but this is the debut of new pieces designed at Lunettes by Uta Geyer and manufactured for them in Italy. Attention is being paid--a Lunettes design recently won “eyewear of the year” for 2011 at the International Optical Fair in Tokyo, and the (capsule) audience was similarly impressed.

The names of the frames may need a native English speaker’s touch (the award winner is “Artsy Fartsy”) but the designs are klasse. The models are derived from vintage but are not antique, oddly sized, or fragile, like vintage can be. A number of acetate tones are available, for example, smoky bourbon, crystal, tortoise, and foggy gray; as well as different lens colors if you want to use them as sunglasses (e.g., gray, fern green). The frames are unisex and although (capsule) is really a menswear show, a lot of shops have lady buyers and a lot of ladies were interested for their shops as well as themselves.  Currently stockists order specific combinations, rather than consumers picking and choosing custom combinations.

The glasses are also packaged nicely. I remarked to the Lunettes rep that they reminded me of book boxes (hours spent in my alma mater’s binding and print shop pays off!)--apparently they’re based on chocolate box designs and made by an old-school Berlin bookbinder.

Lunettes are currently available at Need Supply.